49. Senate-bound?

It is 49 days until the next U.S. congressional midterm election.

In Sunday’s post, I pointed out seven “toss-up” races for the U.S. Senate where we could help by supporting Democratic candidates. Today, using the ratings efforts of fivethirtyeight.com, we’re going to review five races that are deemed “likely Democratic” and one “likely Republican.

If you’re doing the math, that leaves 22 races that are considered slam dunks, in which fivethirtyeight.com assigns one party at least 95 percent odds of winning. Eighteen of those are Democrats and four Republicans.

As for the “likely” races listed below, the website considers them to have between a 75 percent and 95 percent chance of winning. That’s incredibly likely, in my book, but we do know elections do not always play out the way they’re expected. That’s why it remains worthwhile to follow these five candidates and give them a little support.

Alphabetized by state, they are:

Joe Donnelly, Indiana.

Tina Smith, Minnesota.

Mike Espy, Mississippi.

Jon Tester, Montana.

Robert Menendez, New Jersey.

Joe Manchin III, West Virginia.

Each name is linked to the candidate’s Twitter page.

Register, vote early, take a friend.